Conversations with Gloria Naylor


Book Description

Collected interviews with the author of The Women of Brewster Place, The Men of Brewster Place, and Linden Hills




The Women of Brewster Place


Book Description

The National Book Award-winning novel—and contemporary classic—that launched the brilliant career of Gloria Naylor “[A] shrewd and lyrical portrayal of many of the realities of black life . . . Miss Naylor bravely risks sentimentality and melodrama to write her compassion and outrage large, and she pulls it off triumphantly.” —The New York Times Book Review This e-book includes a foreword by Tayari Jones. In her heralded first novel, Gloria Naylor weaves together the stories of seven women living in Brewster Place, a bleak-inner city sanctuary, creating a powerful, moving portrait of the strengths, struggles, and hopes of black women in America. Vulnerable and resilient, openhanded and openhearted, these women forge their lives in a place that in turn threatens and protects—a common prison and a shared home. Naylor renders both loving and painful human experiences with simple eloquence and uncommon intuition. Adapted into a 1989 ABC miniseries starring Oprah Winfrey, The Women of Brewster Place is a touching and unforgettable read.




Linden Hills


Book Description

The National Book Award–winning author of The Women of Brewster Place explores the secrets of an affluent black community. For its wealthy African American residents, the exclusive neighborhood of Linden Hills is a symbol of “making it.” The ultimate achievement: a home on prestigious Tupelo Drive. Making your way downhill to Tupelo is irrefutable proof of your worth. But the farther down the hill you go, the emptier you become . . . Using the descent of Dante’s Inferno as a model, this bold, haunting novel follows two young men as they attempt to find work amid the circles of the well-off community. Exploring a microcosm of race and social class, author Gloria Naylor reveals the true cost of success for the lost souls of Linden Hills—an existence trapped in a nightmare of their own making.




Bailey's Cafe


Book Description

A “moving and memorable” novel about a cafe where everyone has a story to tell from the award-winning author of The Women of Brewster Place (The Boston Globe). In post–World War II Brooklyn, on a quiet backstreet, there’s a little place that draws people from all over—not for the food, and definitely not for the coffee. An in-between place that’s only there when you need it, Bailey’s Cafe is a crossroads where patrons stay for a while before making a choice: Move on or check out? In this novel, National Book Award–winning author Gloria Naylor’s expertly crafted characters experience a journey full of beauty and heartbreak. Touching on gender, race, and the African American experience, Bailey’s Cafe is “a sublime achievement” about the resilience of the human spirit (People).




Gloria Naylor


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Mama Day


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A “wonderful novel” steeped in the folklore of the South from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Women of Brewster Place (The Washington Post Book World). On an island off the coast of Georgia, there’s a place where superstition is more potent than any trappings of the modern world. In Willow Springs, the formidable Mama Day uses her powers to heal. But her great niece, Cocoa, can’t wait to get away. In New York City, Cocoa meets George. They fall in love and marry quickly. But when she finally brings him home to Willow Springs, the island’s darker forces come into play. As their connection is challenged, Cocoa and George must rely on Mama Day’s mysticism. Told from multiple perspectives, Mama Day is equal parts star-crossed love story, generational saga, and exploration of the supernatural. Hailed as Gloria Naylor’s “richest and most complex” novel, it is the kind of book that stays with you long after the final page (Providence Journal).




Understanding Gloria Naylor


Book Description

Whitt discloses how Naylor tells the stories of these women on multiple levels and how she helps readers see that all heroines live a life of significance."--BOOK JACKET. "Tracing Naylor's development of the theme of black community, especially among women, Whitt shows how characters move from poverty and isolation to a place where they transcend the racism and sexism that constrict their lives."--BOOK JACKET.




The Men of Brewster Place


Book Description

Fifteen years ago, Gloria Naylor burst onto the American literary scene with The Women of Brewster Place. Now she has focused her attention on the other side of the story - the men of Brewster Place. Like the women, they are committed to one another and to their community. Ben, who died in the first Brewster Place novel, is resurrected to narrate the tales of seven men and the women who love them. The complexity of their personal issues and how they are resolved leaves the reader with renewed hope and optimism.




Gloria Naylor’s Fiction


Book Description

This edited volume offers innovative ways of analyzing economics in Gloria Naylor’s fiction, using interpretive strategies which are applicable to the entire tradition of African American literature. The writers gathered here embody years of insightful and vigorous Naylor scholarship. Underpinning each of the essays is a celebratory validation that Naylor is one of the most provocative novelists of our time.




Remembered


Book Description

It is 1910 and Philadelphia is burning. The last place Spring wants to be is in the run-down, colored section of a hospital surrounded by the groans of sick people and the ghost of her dead sister. But as her son Edward lays dying, she has no other choice. There are whispers that Edward drove a streetcar into a shop window. Some people think it was an accident, others claim that it was his fault, the police are certain that he was part of a darker agenda. Is he guilty? Can they find the truth? All Spring knows is that time is running out. She has to tell him the story of how he came to be. With the help of her dead sister, newspaper clippings, and reconstructed memories, she must find a way to get through to him. To shatter the silences that governed her life, she will do everything she can to lead Edward home.